702 thoughts on “Saturday 9 November: Boris Johnson must reassure working-class voters distrustful of the Left”

  1. Putin benefits from the refusal to publish the Russian meddling report. Spectator. Andrew Foxall. 8 November 2019

    Perhaps the report offers fresh detail about Johnson’s trip to the Italian home of Evgeny Lebedev, the son of former KGB spy Alexander Lebedev, in April 2018, during which the then-foreign secretary is rumoured to have travelled without a 24/7 security detail. Perhaps it contains revelations about the three years Dominic Cummings spent in Russia in the 1990s. Perhaps it documents financial connections between the Kremlin and the Vote Leave campaign, or individuals closely connected to them. Or perhaps it doesn’t.

    Morning everyone. This article is of no interest in itself except to note that it has been comprehensively rubbished and ridiculed below the line. The “offending” comments have then been savagely down voted to allow the two supporting to rise to the top of the best column. The number of them tells us that sensitive as Foxall is (he’s re-edited the piece to remove the points of mockery) he’s had some help. This would fit in with the overall pattern. If you google Russian Report you will receive two pages of articles about this supposedly unread collection of gossip and innuendo. It’s in all the UK tabloids and the magazine sections of the TV channels, the New European even telling us that 50,000 have signed a petition to have the report released before the election, though Scram News says it’s 150,000. Perhaps there was a late rush!

    None of this comes from the Labour Party. They couldn’t afford it, they don’t have the resources and though they’ve commented on it in a minor fashion, it has no real place in their campaign. So cui bono? Well only someone or something with access to limitless MSM assets could arrange such a unanimity of agreement. This leaves us with our old pals Soros and the EU and going by the number of Security Service media stooges involved they are onboard as well.

    https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/11/putin-benefits-from-the-refusal-to-publish-the-russian-meddling-report/

    1. Morning, Bob3.

      N Essex has a light ground frost and a clear bright sky at the moment. Rain expected late afternoon.

          1. Thankfully we can employ window cleaners, as some are only accessible from the ground either with a ladder (© Bill Thomas) or with a long-handled thingy that waves about and drenches one.

          2. I’m in a bungalow so steps suffice. It’s a bit more than just cleaning the glass, I neglected my usual Spring clean of the outside of our home as I was involved in a messy project. The latter also added dust etc to the current mess. That’s now complete and the windows and porch beckon.

    1. Shirley the second panel should read, ‘And remain being a paid member of the EU.’ If Sturgeon gets her way it won’t be the lack of a pot to piss in, they’ll be short of the piss.😎

    2. A worthy opponent for the Lady of the Mercians?
      My money’s on Alfred’s feisty daughter.

    3. Much though I love Scotland, I’ve never understood the logic of wanting independence from London while remaining even more under the Brussels boot? Then again, Mrs Krankie doesn’t do logic, so perhaps that’s how it works?

      1. As far as Independence is concerned it’s all about hatred of the evil English. ScotNats would happily accept control from anywhere other than London as long as they were free of the English.

          2. The article doesn’t mention Hugh McDiarmid, writer, communist and Scottish nationalist. He was a bit too interested in fascism, which he once said was of ‘the left’ and at first supported Mussolini. The National Party of Scotland (the proto-SNP), of which he was a founder member, and the GB Communist Party both threw him out of their organisations in the 1930s. He appeared to recant, criticising Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler, but later wrote:

            “On balance I regard the Axis powers, tho’ more violently evil for the time being, less dangerous than our own government in the long run and indistinguishable in purpose….Although the Germans are appalling enough, they cannot win, but the British and French bourgeoisie can and they are a far greater enemy. If the Germans win they could not hold their gain for long, but if the French and British win it will be infinitely more difficult to get rid of them.”

            He thought a Nazi invasion of Britain would benefit Scotland. His Who’s Who entry included Anglophobia amongst his hobbies.

          6. Communists followed Marx’s idea of Class Conflict whilst the NSDAP followed Gentile’s Class Cooperation ethos, but ultimately they were two facets of the same Socialist rubbish.

          8. Thank you. I knew at the back of my mind that some Scottish arty farty icon was involved, but I couldn’t remember his name.

          9. An awkward truth? Not heard that one but I believe some Welsh people were involved: the double agent Garbo, in life, Juan Pujol García MBE, used a fictional Welsh farm owned by an anti-English local as a bolt hole for at least one of his other fictional agents. His controllers wouldn’t have allowed a story like that to be given to the Germans without a grain of truth in it.

          10. I don’t know, but most of these Independence movements seem to work on the enemy’s enemy is my friend basis, so I would not be surprised.

          3. Much as I dislike their attitudes towards the English I still regard them as an integral part of the UK.

            As the debate progressed during the last referendum and I defended the Union and was getting some vile abuse for so doing, I must admit that I was slowly moving to the let’s get shot of them viewpoint.

        3. I used to ask (mischievously, it must be said) a work colleague why so many Scottish cars drove around with a sticker showing the Saltire cross with the word ‘Ecosse’ written on it. All I could ever get out of him was that it was French for Scotland. I would say I knew that.

          I would then lead him further into my trap and ask him why it was in French, not English and not in the language of any other European country the car might visit – always French.

          He would then mumble something and change the subject.

          I suspected that it almost certainly was a resurrection of the Auld Alliance and hence a dig at the English, rather than just an acknowledgement of the normal home address of the car. but he was too polite (or embarrassed) to ever admit it.

      2. Because the SNP argument is..that if Scotland leaves the UK and remains in the EU, it will be a policy set by a Scottish govt. not by a UK govt. centered in London.

      3. It’s about being independent from the English. Nothing more. They’re happy being under the cosh of Brussels.

    1. Poor old Michael Fish. Over 20 years later and they still won’t let their misinterpretation of what he actually said that night rest.

    2. That is spot on. If I wanted to watch and listen to a bidding war I’d go to an auction house.

  5. Morning

    SIR – Sherelle Jacobs (Comment, November 7) is quite right to say that Boris Johnson and the Conservatives need to gain a better understanding of working-class voters.

    Many are, or were, tribal Labour supporters, but that does not mean that they espouse the far-Left policies of today’s party.

    I spent the bulk of my working life in a middle-class environment in mainstream civil service departments in London. I found increasingly that my colleagues, like many people in the public sector, had unquestioning Left-wing attitudes and were fervent supporters of the EU.

    By contrast, when I later worked for several years on the shop floor of a large mail-processing centre, where most of my colleagues were drawn from the working classes, I found them to be patriotic, and increasingly concerned that Labour no longer represented them – in particular by dithering on Brexit, apparently supporting the IRA and other terrorist groups, and wanting to raise taxes to astronomical levels, thus putting their financial well-being and jobs at risk.

    Mr Johnson needs to reassure the working classes that he is indeed on their side. Then he will reap the reward of taking marginal Labour seats in the old industrial areas of the Midlands and North. Should he fail to reassure them, working-class people disillusioned with Labour will turn to the Brexit Party.

    The effect would be the election of a weak Tory government yet again, unable to take the strong decisions this country needs, or worse, a Marxist-dominated Labour government that will lead us on a path to destruction.

    Ted Shorter
    Tonbridge, Kent

    SIR – All we have heard from Jeremy Corbyn so far in this election are skirmishes in the class war that is the tired message of all Marxists.

    Will he remain silent on one of the most important issues: defence?

    While the Tories’ record on defence is fairly lamentable, we need to know where Mr Corbyn stands on our new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its F‑35 Lightnings, whose main task, after all, is to combat the threat from Mr Corbyn’s friends in Moscow.

    Dr Martin Henry
    Good Easter, Essex

    1. Why would we need the white elephant and its flies?
      If Corbyn were to take over, surely the Russian threat would vanish, after all he’s on their side.
      /sarc

    3. “we need to know where Mr Corbyn stands”

      From what I’ve seen of his Brexit stance, I assume he sits on defence.

      Morning Epi.

    4. “While the Tories’ record on defence is fairly lamentable, we need to know where Mr Corbyn stands on our new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth….” Presumably on the deck like everyone else…

  6. SIR – The Communication Workers Union plans disruptive industrial action in the run-up to the election.

    Royal Mail is challenging the union in the High Court. The application will be heard in the coming week. The ruling could take some time, leaving little left to organise the timely delivery of election material.

    A favourable High Court ruling could be overturned on appeal to the Supreme Court.

    What can conscientious electors do to ensure they may cast a valid vote? In particular, what is the Government doing and what can local party members do to guarantee a full and fair election?

    J R Ball
    Hale

    1. “What can conscientious electors do to ensure they may cast a valid vote?”

      Umm….turn up at the Polling Station…

        1. Right at the bottom of a valley. We had a stream running down Clatterway and across the Via Gellia yesterday morning, but that was because a couple of drain gullies were choked up with leaves.
          Once they were cleared it was fine.

      5. What? If the BBC is to believed almost the entire area is under 6″ of water due to climate change

        1. Only parts of the Derwent Valley.
          Basingstoke Daughter came up for a visit yesterday and because the Derby – Matlock trains were flooded off I had to go in to pick her up.
          It was bloody demic getting in and out and took well over two hours to drive in and collect her because of the congestion in the town caused by several roads being closed due to flooding.

        2. Biblical apparently, and now occurring due to climate change. They seem to have forgotten there were floods in biblical times as well. I imagine there must have been a bit of water through Utah as well, all that rock must have been washed away by something.

          1. As far as I know that area is prone to flooding and new developments and building on flood plains has not helped. The drainage is also being overloaded

  8. Michael Deacon in the DT.
    Memories of trying to plough through ‘Tristram Shandy’.
    Well, Oi laffed.

    “Bercow: the book

    No doubt about the literary sensation of 2020. Mere days after stepping down as Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow has announced that he will soon be publishing a book about his life.

    This column is honoured to be able to publish the first exclusive extract.

    Chapter One

    ’Twas if memory serves the 19th day in the month of January, 1963 Anno Domini when I, John Simon Bercow, was privileged to make my humble entrance into the world, and assume my rightful place therein. But ere long I was abruptly discomposed by a noise that was wholly inimical to my prospects of restful tranquillity.

    “OR-DERRRRR!” I frowned, as a uniformed representative of the National Health Service undertook the task of severing my umbilical cord by means of the appropriate medical instrument. “Would the good lady lying recumbent upon the hospital bed please desist forthwith from chuntering in that unseemly fashion! Take a soothing medicament, woman!”

    I was disconcerted to note, however, that far from pursuing the guidance which I had been generous enough to proffer, the lady in question insisted upon pressing my infant form in a most undignified manner to her bosom.

    “OR-DERRRRR!” I protested. “I am perfectly capable of availing myself of sustenance as and when I seek it, madam, and require no assistance in the matter from you or anyone else! As I have already indicated to the gentleman in the blue smock, a beaker of Robinson’s finest Barley Water will amply suffice! Now if you would kindly unhand me, it is my intention to devote the remainder of my afternoon to viewing the televised escapades of Messrs Pinky and Perky!”

    With characteristic perspicacity, however, I observed that the woman had commenced to emit droplets of watery fluid from the small ducts adjacent to her eyeballs.

    “OR-DERRRRR!” I bellowed, soothingly. “Calm yourself, madam! Fear not! These animated porcine exploits will conclude in more than adequate time for you to enjoy the latest dispatch from the denizens of Coronation Street.”

    2. Thanks for giving me a morning chuckle, probably the only worthwhile article Deacon has written for a long, long time.

  9. I used to enjoy Have I Got News for You, but not any more.

    Last night’s was typical of the snide, sarcastic, unfunny show it’s become.

    Time it was put out to grass.

    4. When it was the News Quiz, chaired by Barry Took, it was excellent. But after he went, it was downhill all the way.

    5. Unwatchable rubbish now. Merton and Hislop get paid £20,000 each per episode. I wouldn’t give them tuppence.

  10. A pleasing letter this morning from the NHS reference my eye test on Monday, the test shewed no signs of diabetic eye disease, hence little risk of diabetic retinopathy.
    I wonder what my next revue with the diabetes nurse will bring?

    5. Morning Bob – If you stick to your Diabetes Type 2 regime your eyes should be OK. My retinopathy was diagnosed by an optician long before I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The laser treatment of my right eye was terminated just before the optic nerve was reached. I have partial sight in the right eye but the left eye is fine . It was several years after the laser treatment before my GP picked up the Type 2 diabetes in 2007 and for 10 years I controlled it with diet and exercise but recently I was put on a low dose of metformin. There is a simple test that can be done at home. Get a page of graph paper and in the centre mark a point where squares meet. Then with each eye look at the dot. If the lines around the dot are disjointed, you probably have retinopathy.

  11. Enfield shopkeeper caught with smuggled cigarettes

    A shopkeeper who was caught with more than £7,000 of smuggled cigarettes has been stripped of his licence to sell alcohol.
    Marian Nantu, who owns Pravalia de Acasa in Green Lanes, Palmers Green, will no longer be able to sell booze after the ruling by Enfield Council’s licensing sub-committee on Wednesday (November 6).

    Police and customs officers seized more than 1,000 packets of contraband cigarettes on the premises – some of which were under a counter, ready to sell – during a crackdown on smuggled goods in August.

    The total amount of tax evaded on the cigarettes was nearly £6,700.

    A search of police records found Mr Nantu had previously been jailed for nine months “for a crime involving fraudulent activity”.

    1. Yet the Council and Police didn’t raise any objections to him getting a booze licence……

  13. Man charged after the stabbing in Muswell Hill

    Keray Granfield, 21, of Muswell Hill Road, has been charged today (November 1) with causing grievous bodily harm with intent after a stabbing on Thursday (October 30).

    The victim, in his 20s, was taken to hospital in critical condition following the incident in Fortis Green Avenue, Muswell Hill at 1:140am.
    One man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and was put into police custody on the same day.
    A Met Police spokesperson previously said: “Police were called to Fortis Green Avenue N10 at 01:40hrs on Thursday, 30 October to a report of a stabbing.

    “The victim, a man in his 20s, was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service where he is in a life-threatening and life-changing condition.”
    Granfield will appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court later today (November 1).

    4. Now I looked it up, I think it is all about you.

      (This site is a never ending learning experience)

  15. General election 2019: Tory pledge to boost GP numbers

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50351861

    The Conservatives say they will fund the training of 500 more GPs in England every year to increase appointments for patients, if they win the election.
    They claim the plan would mean up to 3,000 more newly-qualified GPs, or doctors doing their GP training, in surgeries by 2024-25.
    However, a previous Tory pledge to recruit an extra 5,000 GPs by 2020 is not close to being met.

    1. One would have thought such a process to be ongoing with no Government intervention necessary! This is of course a logical oxymoron. It is because of Government Intervention as elsewhere that such a situation exists

    2. Not fit for purpose or to govern. There are approx 100 districts in England alone with populations of around 300,000 so an extra 500 GPs per year is just 5 per district or typically one relatively small GP surgery. That is very unlikely to cope with the current excess demand for GP services, GP retirement, or indeed population growth each year.

    3. The Government is therefore going to pay tuition fees and living fees for new doctors. He should also ensure that all trainees should be genuine UK citizens and should commit themseves to join practices ,in the UK short of doctors for at least 5 years. Part time working for doctors needs to be addressed by the government.

      1. Should be like apprenticeships used to be, You had to stay with that employer for 5 years or buy yourself out. To many of the doctors we train disappear abroad as soon as they finish their training

    4. It would be more helpful to see that in the number of hours. Five hundred extra GPs all working one day a week won’t help much.

  17. Cameron’s failures in war highlight the decline in British leadership – a trend that is only likely to continue. Indy. Patrick Cockburn. 8 November 2019.

    It is worth studying what Cameron did, or thought he was doing in the Libyan and Syrian conflicts, because war reveals a political leader’s level of judgement as does nothing else. There has been much criticism of Cameron’s decision to first hold, and then lose, the referendum on membership of the European Union, but his second-rate attributes as a leader were already evident in his decisions about these two wars.

    These failings are not confined to Cameron, but to what used to be called the British ruling class as a whole: its members have a a certain provinciality and sense of superiority that makes it difficult for them to play a weak hand well when negotiating with the EU. Such assumptions blend with inner self-doubt which sees Cameron continually trotting off to see Obama or Vladimir Putin, though this never seems to get him very far.

    Mrs Thatcher was probably the UK’s last leader of any stature. Since then the post of Prime Minister has been occupied by persons of spineless ineptitude, treasonable malignance and ignorant political folly. Sadly, as Cockburn points out, there is quite literally no one on the horizon to reverse this trend.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/david-cameron-syria-libya-boris-johnson-jeremy-corbyn-a9195826.html

    3. I’m a huge fan of MT. I will acknowledge though, that she didn’t have to contend with twenty four hour news, ‘celebrity bandwaggoning’ and social meeja

      1. I suspect that she would have seen it for what it is: shallow. She might well have distanced herself from it.

          1. There will come a point when the more intelligent (oxymoron) of them will come to realise that it does them more harm than good and will back off. It’s a fad and almost invariably is used as a stick with which to beat the posters.

  19. The scene is set and opening game of lying poker begins with the turkish delight opening with 6000 DRs only to have Werzel Gummidge top TDs bid with 6000
    DRs & 1000 nurses, and so it will continue.
    It will get really interesting when building social housing for our guest’s comes into play.
    It has shown in the past that the contents of these manifesto’s is of great importance to the electorate who surely study them intently before kissing a candidate in the polling booth, the current condition of these Isles
    bear witness to that.

      1. R,
        Not with training cuts, any of the lab/lib/con politico could cut that down to ten months & knock out a look- A -like GP.
        Did it with plumbers, chippies, etc,etc.
        Seen the result once working construction in the health centre, Maidstone.
        Two walls one either side of a corridor young brickie gov.training, old brickie, all weather hands, roll up lower lip, cap over one eye, no comparison, the plaster covers a multitude of
        brickwork sins.

      1. Rik,
        Granted,
        In Ikjeda Nigeria, Sunday in the Hilton Hotel
        ( heaven away from heaven) we use to play
        lying crib, the walls of the bar were mirrors, box full of fives, good game.

    1. It’s a boast about how clever his dog is at doing the new trick he’s been training it to do. The child wasn’t in danger. It’s staged.

    1. My MP said that Martin Howe had said Boris’s Wretched Agreement had been given the OK by MH QC. I then queried whether he’d read the full transcript of MH’s findings in which he says it’s much the same as the old one. This makes it clear. When queried with my MP it’s the only email I have sent him over the years that he hasn’t responded too. Now I know why.

      1. Just a day? Time no longer matters. They had us (or most of us, not me and others who were numerate) celebrating a new millennium a whole year early in 2000.

  25. If Edinburgh were to be completely wiped out (like Sodom) and I could only save one thing, what would I save?
    Not Edinburgh Castle, not the Scott Monument, not Princes Street, not Jenners, not the museums, not the art galleries, not the Palace of Hoylroodhouse, not the Playhouse theatre, not the Cafe Royal round bar, not John Knox’s house, not the Botanic Gardens.
    If I could save only one thing it would be the Sicilian Pastry shop.

      1. It has been around for the last thirty years or so. A small shop off Leith Walk, it makes birthday cakes to order. When the children started school the Sultana went back to work. This did not leave enough time for us to make birthday cakes and organise parties etc, so we bought cakes from this shop.The range and quality of the fresh cream pastries and macarons is unmatched.

  26. Cyprus Now Receiving Most Migrants Per Capita in Europe

    As migration routes in the Mediterranean sea change, the island of Cyprus is now being inundated with migrants and has the most arrivals per capita.
    The migrants, who tend to arrive in Greek southern Cyprus from boats or air from the Turkish-controlled northern part of the island, have come at a rapid pace, according to a report from Swedish broadcaster SVT.

    You understand what this means for a country like Cyprus,” Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides said. He added: “We are currently experiencing the largest population displacements ever seen and according to the UN 250 million to 300 million people are migrating each year.”

    1. If immigration, as we are led to believe by Remainers, is so good for the economy then Greece should be back on its feet in no time.

  27. Floods in Sheffield/Doncaster/PeakDistrict?

    It’s so comforting to see the sound instincts of our PM – this must be due to CLIMATE CHANGE and the absence of any voices of dissent from other Conservative MPs. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

      1. I wonder whether any politician will blame planners who allow buildings .. houses .. to be built on fluvial plains .. water meadows .. no where for water to soak away. The ignorance of politicians and planners is alarming .

      2. Conservative MPs also need their brains dredging as there’s so much PC gunk lodged in their craniums. Oh my hippocampus …

        1. The word hippocampus reminded me of The Labour Front Bench, but then it occurred to me hippocampuses are in short supply over there.

      3. Tricky business dredging rivers….it’s expensive and HMG would rather p155 billions away abroad…..

        1. Floods abroad are a much higher priority and if they were abroad the charities would be rushing out there and put pleas for donations on TV

    3. Morning LD
      Due to circumstances beyond the control of common sense & sanity and
      immigrants constructing new builds on suss. flood plains, to house incoming immigrants, the damp course must go up the first three floors to cut out the risk of drowning at ground level indoors.

  28. Another mail to Mr R………….

    So sorry…. I forgot… here’s another question to add to the others………..

    Who spent $100,000,000 plus in the UK to stop Brexit.. ?

    Was the answer to all the questions……….

    Generous George ?

    Polly

  29. Another mail to Mr R………….

    So sorry…. I forgot… here’s another question to add to the others………..

    Who spent $100,000,000 plus in the UK to stop Brexit.. ?

    Was the answer to all the questions……….

    Generous George ?

    Polly

  30. Well the politicians are being fairly quite at present other than coming out with ever more ridicules claims of what they will do if elected. None of which are remotely deliverable. We have had things like No tuition fears, Free Child care for all children for 35 hours a week etc

    Unless these claims are backed by a proper project plan which has a budget and resources and timescales attached to it thy are just political spin if not lies

    If you take child care they have nort been able to properly fund the 15 hours a week for 3 & 4 years old so many are closing down

    1. Yup…hospitals that will never be built….massive increases in Police numbers that will decades (if ever) to achieve….

    2. BJ,
      Free child care for all young children,
      This under the PC / Appeasement unwritten rules does not apply to incoming guest’s children up to the age of 45 will be catered for, & if necessary
      breast fed.

  31. Well the politicians are being fairly quite at present other than coming out with ever more ridicules claims of what they will do if elected. None of which are remotely deliverable. We have had things like No tuition fears, Free Child care for all children for 35 hours a week etc

    Unless these claims are backed by a proper project plan which has a budget and resources and timescales attached to it thy are just political spin if not lies

    If you take child care they have nort been able to properly fund the 15 hours a week for 3 & 4 years old so many are closing down

  32. One thing I prefer about elections in the 1980s/90s is that election campaigns were 3 weeks rather than the present one of at least 5 weeks (as was the painfully drawn out car-crash of May’s 2017 election campaign).

    1. This one is no better. It just consist of each party trying to out do each other on how much they will spends etc. Totally deliverable but they don’t care. Have a look at the Conservatives last manifesto and see how little of what they claimed to do has been delivered. It is the same with Khan . The claims are pure fiction

    2. I’m sure most politicians would prefer a very short campaigning period, on the basis that they have less time to put their feet in their mouths.

        1. The British became powerful because of their Empire. The United States would still be the world’s most powerful state without any foreign possessions! That being said the experiences of those who serve[d] in both are probably much alike. It is an oddity that most of these deployments take place in much the same locations. Afghanistan is still absolutely immune to foreign domination by virtue of its Ethnic makeup and while Islam can be occupied it cannot be conquered. As it was in the 1800’s so it is now!

  34. General Election 2019 Key Dates

    The key dates are:[

    Thursday 14 November Nominations of candidates close

    Saturday 16 November Candidates lists are published for each constituency

    Tuesday 26 November Deadline for registering to vote.

    Wednesday 4 December Deadline to register for a proxy vote. (Exemptions apply for emergencies)

    Thursday 12 December Polling Day – polls open 7am to 10pm

    Friday 13 December Results will be announced for the majority of the 650 constituencies. End of purdah.

    Tuesday 17 December First meeting of the new (58th) Parliament of the United Kingdom, for the formal election of a Speaker of the Commons and the swearing-in of members, ahead of the State Opening of the new Parliament’s first session.

    1. “Responding on Twitter to Hancock’s comments, Miqdaad Versi, the director of the media monitoring team for the Muslim Council of Britain, said Hancock was trying to pretend Warsi was isolated in her criticism. “The reality is that evidence of the scale of Islamophobia in the [Conservative] party is huge albeit under-reported and deniers of its scale should be challenged with the truth.””

      A member of the Muslim Council of Britain demanding that the truth be told about islamophobia to the people. That is the last thing that he wants. It would see the cult banned and a long-term effort to remove everyone who chooses to follow it. As more people are saying now, it is islamorealism not a phobia.

    2. It sounds worryingly as if she wants to make a big thing out of a non-existent situation for her own political profit whereas Mr Hancock has simply said – subtlely, mind – stop being an extremeist – and she’s done exactly that to trigger a response for publicity.

      Dear life. Will no one spare us from these bickering idiots?

      Islamophobia is a nonsense. What is obvious is that some Muslims have a problem with this country. That we need to talk about.

      1. He did kick her out, remember. She ” resigned on a matter of principle ” but we have heard that one before.

    4. I’ve Tw@ted my ready made responses to her.
      I’ve also pointed out to some of her apparent supporters the video I posted by Sa Ra Garvey I posted here a while ago.
      Here’s another video of his:-
      https://youtu.be/VLGNmHT-rjQ

      1. I started to watch it and he advises that we watch the earlier video he posted about what islam really thinks about black people. I tried to and Youtube have already thrown an “age verification” block on it, which requires you to sign in with an account to watch it. So it must be good if YouTube are trying to block who can see it.

        They normally just delete clips that question the cult that they want to rule us all. So now I may be forced to create yet another dummy account just to bypass their censorship attempts. The left-wing and their fear of the truth getting out are very tedious.

        Back to this video for now.

        (Edit – that was a good video. He makes some excellent points in quite a forceful way, with what might be some very strong language to a few. 🙂

  36. The Bad News – It’s raining in Bournville again and is going to rain all day according to the forecast

    The Good News – Bournville is at least 500 ft above sea level (not many people know that the highest Football League ground in England is ‘The Hawthorns’, home of West Bromwich Albion).

    1. You forget to add that the ground is in Birmingham. Can we conclude yam a yam yam, then?

        1. No need to be suspicious, I do know. The Veella aka the Vile are playing the true Yam Yams tomorrow, aka The Dingles. But if as suspected Mr. Duckworth is a Baggies fan, things will be going “boing boing”. in Bournville tonight as they won away and are still top of the Championship, arguably the best league in the world IMHO. Proper teams, proper fans, proper competition and no plastic glory hunting barstewards.

        1. You’re correct but back in my day “The ground was once divided by the Birmingham/Smethwick border, but was moved completely into the latter by a minor rationalisation of local government borders in the 1960s and is now entirely in Sandwell.”

  37. The Bad News – the floods around Doncaster have been pretty bad – you can read about it in the media.
    The Worser News – There is a foul stench permeating the City of Leeds today. Jeremy Corbyn is in town.

    1. Well, ask any Mps there why we’re not dredging the rivers or building reservoirs.

      When they say we want to, tell them we can’t as the EU forbids it. Then ask them why they’re supporting this flooding.

  38. Good morning from a Saxon Queen with long bow and cleaned axe .
    A cold dark morning but very still, as if a storm is brewing.

    1. Morning, Æthelfled :-))
      Chilly here, overnight 4″ approx of snow means it’s quite light even when it’s dark!

      2. Good morning.
        Brightness of snow is one of the few pleasant things
        about it. Beautiful when it first falls and beautiful
        when in paintings. But snow soon becomes grey
        slippery slush and Ice .

    2. Reminds me of an anecdote from my OH, who was sent on a management course in our hospital about disciplinary procedures. Representatives from various departments were on the same course, being run by a woman in flowery skirt and sandals, who talked about being sensitive to the staff, and how disciplinary procedures should be followed. This would involve talking to the staff member, going through the procedure in the correct manner, following up any meetings in writing, etc, etc.
      The various department reps, mainly women, were asked how they dealt with disciplinary matters in their departments, and they said all the right things, about discussing any problems with their staff, having meetings and possibly counselling them, etc.

      Then it came to my OH, who worked in the Engineering and Maintenance department, and was there with another colleague.

      “You two work together, don’t you? And how do you deal with disciplinary procedures in your department?” the course director asked.
      “Well, he holds them and I hit them.”
      It didn’t go down too well…

      2. Comme l’hôtel California, on peut quitter l’UE a tout moment mais on ne peut jamais sortir.
        :¬(

    2. Strange that a person hanging around after other guests have left the party could be called a remainer.

  41. OK Y’all – time for some fluff, I was out late last night at a Hot Club of Cowtown gig in Wiltshire ( really good btw) and looked in on Nottlingham at the very end of a thread about Duvets, as I was ready for bed I didn’t add my two penn’orth so here it is:-

    We’ve just blown the soon to arrive winter heating allowance, plus a bit, on a 10.5tog Hungarian ( not sure what difference that makes) Goose Down Duvet from M and S. After a life time of synthetic and a brief foray into wool ( an expensive failure ) I can honestly say that the goose down duvet wins hand, feet, elbows and knees down, by a mile. absolutely snuggletastic.

      1. I made an error yesterday as I advised using these sleek blankets that were 100% polyester, because they were so warm. They kept you warm in strong breezes when outside. They were so warm that I only used them to cover my legs on a cold night under cotton sheets. Which was not a problem.

        Last night was the first time that temperatures were around freezing in years and I pulled the blanket all the way up. I have rediscovered the fundamental problem with polyester now. So I shall be considering getting another feather filled giant bed covering again.

        1. I hate fleeces because they make sweaty, too. A proper wool seeater is good for almost any condition, especially given wind protection.

        2. I hate fleeces because they make sweaty, too. A proper wool seeater is good for almost any condition, especially given wind protection.

      2. I made an error yesterday as I advised using these sleek blankets that were 100% polyester, because they were so warm. They kept you warm in strong breezes when outside. They were so warm that I only used them to cover my legs on a cold night under cotton sheets. Which was not a problem.

        Last night was the first time that temperatures were around freezing in years and I pulled the blanket all the way up. I have rediscovered the fundamental problem with polyester now. So I shall be considering getting another feather filled giant bed covering again.

    3. I bought a silk duvet (it was at a brilliant price at Costco). It is absolutely lovely, and I don’t sweat as I did under the old duck/goose down duvets. We have an ordinary double bed and duvet (not a Queen or King or that kind of thing). It is the best money I have spent for a long time.

      1. We’ve had various types over the years, feather, down, artificial.

        Silk, in a cotton cover, is head and shoulders above the rest in our view.

    4. I’m still using a 4 tog down/feather duvet…I’d bake under a 10.5 tog one. It would have to be well below freezing before I’d use a warmer duvet…clearly, I’m hot stuff!!

      1. Interestingly SWMBO who permanently runs hotter than a 1954 Ford Popular at the top of Porlock Hill and has only just sanctioned the change from the 1 tog summer duvet under which I shiver ( absolutely no heating allowed in the bedchamber ) has found the 10.5 down job quite acceptable , I’m having the most agreeable nights sleep now I can ditch the sea boot socks.

    5. WooHoo,thanks for that,it appears I am eligible for the WHA which I didn’t realise
      Brucie Bonus

      1. Ah yes…the WHA…..more cash for people that don’t need it and won’t be spending it on heating… 🙂

        1. Really?/ In my new circumstances I live in a sheltered housing unit that only has storage heating which I have not dared turn on for fear off the costs
          I open the door to the heated corridor to warm the room
          Perhaps if I get the WHA I might risk it and actually put some heating on

        2. Really?/ In my new circumstances I live in a sheltered housing unit that only has storage heating which I have not dared turn on for fear off the costs
          I open the door to the heated corridor to warm the room
          Perhaps if I get the WHA I might risk it and actually put some heating on

  42. Working class voters should realise that the antisemitic, dictatorial
    terrorist loving thug only supports ‘ working people ‘ if they happen to be
    immigrant workers. Corbyn has even said that our Middle East / African
    ‘ workers ‘ should be allowed to bring their families over.
    Corbyn even wishes to close centres for detaining and checking
    out asylum seekers who arrive from Calais saying it’s against
    their human rights.

    Don’t forget That Thornberry woman who berated white man van driver
    who might be working class but he had the audacity to want to
    have his own business, be ambitious, want control of his own
    life and not be dependant upon the state.

    Everyone should be more then distrustful of the hard left
    Corbyn and his thugs are not just of the left – they are
    Intolerant, dictatorial, dangerous and extreme .

    1. ‘Morning, Ethel, “…to close centres for detaining and checking out asylum seekers…”

      I didn’t know we had any. My understanding was that they were taken to the nearest Social Security and told to report back on another day – they never do.

  43. Good Morning and take heart, all ye NoTTLers

    SIR – I read with interest that average consumption is now 9.7 litres of pure alcohol a year (report, November 8), equivalent to 1.5 glasses of wine per day, which is the same as it was in 1980 and just over the recently revised limit of 14 units per week.

    This is also approximately the intake associated with improved mortality when compared to non-drinkers. Why is it now considered a problem? The issue lies with the small numbers who consume far in excess of safe levels, not the increasingly vilified boomer generation.

    Dr John Giles
    Robertsbridge, East Sussex

  44. Good morning, everyone. Taking the train to London later. Hotel booked. Have to be on Horse Guards at 0900 tomorrow.

    3. Good morning DB..

      Very frosty here .. the cars on our drive are frozen.. Frostiest yet.. Birds are up early on the feeders.

      Well done and take care , stay warm for tomorrow .

    4. Well done, Sir, enjoy doing your duty. I wish I could join you but the bits don’t operate as well today.

  45. SIR – As Bristol council wants to rid the city centre of diesel cars of any age, it leaves me with a problem. I will not be able to drive my Skoda Karoq 4×4 SEL on a 69 plate into the city centre, even though it is cleaner than some modern petrol vehicles.

    So I will have to resort to my other car for daily travel to work. Travel will now have to be in a petrol-driven Discovery 295 bhp V8, which probably pollutes like a mobile bonfire. However, needs must.

    John Williams
    Bristol

    1. Another black loony control freak mayor.. I saw him on TV ..

      I wish those dimwits would address other forms of pollution … I have heard that Bristol city stinks of the aroma of SPLIFFS and greasy take aways and foreign cultural mores. Actually, I have never been to Bristol so perhaps I shouldn’t believe hearsay .

      1. Good morning Maggiebelle

        When I was at prep school in Bath I had to change trains from Bath Spa at Bristol Temple Meads to get the train home down to Falmouth via Exeter, Plymouth and Truro and then the ferry over to St Mawes. I visited Clifton when I was at Blundell’s to play in school teams. Apart from that, the zoo and the suspension bridge I hardly know Bristol at all.

        1. Morning NtN

          Just keep battling on .

          I met DB last year, he is a tall stalwart gentleman of real old RAF vintage , I hope he enjoys his day tomorrow and stays warm.

    2. John Williams must be one of the lucky ones if he considers his employment will still exist in the city centre. Most firms if at all possible will relocate a safe distance from Mr Mayor and his Labour run council.

      Morning all from a frosty Norf Zummerzet

  46. SIR – The medical evidence has caught up with the knowledge of the populace, and we all know now, incontrovertibly, that heading footballs can result in brain damage.

    All those involved in football worldwide should band together to change the rules so that heading a ball is deemed a foul, like a handball.

    Terry J Gamble
    Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire

    1. we all know now, incontrovertibly, that heading footballs can result in brain damage.

      And we all know now, incontrovertibly, that it may not.

  47. Morning Each,
    Everyone should really be mistrustful of the political
    left… right….centre as in anything in pinstripe hovering
    around hol / hoc ALL are intent to do damage to the UK.

    1. Good morning Ogga

      It is a bit too late in the day to mistrust ..

      We are on the road to nowhere !

      The UK is damaged already .

      I have just seen on F/B a new post about a luxury hotel in Leeds having to accommodate 50 illegals whilst their asylum is considered .. all men .. dabbing away on their phones … what are they doing here in Britain and why ?

      1. Morning TB,
        Party swellers, top ups, as the electorate replacement takes place the indigenous numbers are fluid, so a steady flow of new members are welcome.
        The current indigenous members seem in agreement as these parties still find support
        via the ballot booth.

        1. “The current indigenous members seem in agreement as these parties still find support
          via the ballot booth.”

          Yup….Boris J screams for an amnesty for illegals….

          …the Spectator cheerleading for him…

          https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/11/the-case-for-amnesty-why-its-time-to-offer-citizenship-to-illegal-immigrants/

          …and then Blue Sheeple whine about levels of immigration….after voting for a PM that demands massive immigration.

          Boris J and Jeremy C – both wanting the UK to flooded with Third World scum….

          …Blues and Reds…..nothing to chose between ’em….mass immigration f78ks over those UK citizens at the bottom of the pile….

          …Blues and Reds…..f78kin’ over the UK for decades, cheered on by w78kers in all of the media, supported by Blue Sheeple and Red Drones.

    2. I’ve just seen her full name; Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg.
      Hergé has a lot to answer for.

    1. Surely, by recording the interview literally, the journalist gives a more accurate portrait of the man.
      Should the Queen’s phrase be altered from “My husband and I” to “Me an’ Phil”?
      A direct quote helps to colour the character.

      1. I might agree, Anne, (and Good morning) but as I’ve said, the un-edited version does colour him – thick.

          1. ‘Twasn’t the interview, just the headline and that’s where I have the beef with the illiterate subbies.

    2. I am begining to suspect that PGCE coarses at uni trane future English teechers to teech grammer and speling bad. (sic)

  50. Clue for the day…..

    In the globalist nation abolishing world, it’s what you know about who… and what you know about who you know went to the island..

  51. General Election

    So far most of the parties are trying to out do each other with claims to deliver ever more services and spend ever more money on them. A superficial look suggests those claims are totally undeliverable of course there is no project pl;an for them with spend against deliverable together with timescales nor any real information as to how these schemes will be funded nor what the impact on the taxpayers will be. It is easy to come up with wild claims of say we will build 400.000 homes a year.. Interestingly most of these parties keep going on about the bus with £350M on the sides and still claiming it was wrong in spite of a court deciding it was not yet these same parties are throwing out endless spending plans with numbers just plucked out of the air

    So far at least with quick check no signs of the parties major works of fiction known as Manifesto’s

    1. Matt Hancock on LBC stating that 40 NEW hospitals will be built over the next decade. His PPS is on record – Andrew Castle has just played the clip – that six are currently at or around the ‘shovel in the ground state’ and thirty four are extensions, new wings etc. In addition, many new hospitals are replacements for old institutions. IMHO Johnson and Hancock are portraying the 40 as additional hospitals: that is looking more and more as ‘politicians’ licence’ i.e. lying.

      1. Examining claims by almost all politicians and they are either untrue, false, misleading, spin or just re announcements of previous announcements
        Unfortunately a lot of gullible voters particularly on the left believe the tales they are told. It seems to be those i the south that tend to believe them. Those in the North have got wise to them

        1. The prevalence of safe seats seem to indicate that stacks of Blue Sheeple & Red Drones avidly lap up the shite sprayed by ‘their Mob’

  54. Dozens of British troops are STILL being investigated over 127 Iraq War allegations. Mail 9 November 2019.

    Dozens of British troops are still under investigation over incidents during the Iraq War despite ministers vowing the witch-hunt would be ended last year.

    A 70-strong investigations unit is probing 27 incidents involving 127 allegations, the latest official figures show. Each incident involves several soldiers.
    They are now being questioned by a new body based in Wiltshire called the Service Police Legacy Investigations (SPLI).

    Never believe anything that any British Government tells you!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7666901/British-troops-hounded-incidents-Iraq-War-40million-spent-far.html

    1. Is there a British government now ?

      Surely only globalist local administrators since 1990.. ?

    2. How many USA troops are being investigate or have they been dealt with already? I won’t hold my breath.

      1. US troops in combat are covered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, not civilian courts. Some were court martialed for various offences. Civilan courts have no jurisdiction over combat issues.

      2. US troops in combat are covered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, not civilian courts. Some were court martialed for various offences. Civilan courts have no jurisdiction over combat issues.

  55. Mail to Mr R…………..

    Ding dong……. Coincidence alert !

    Why does the BBC support policies which are identical to those of Generous George.. ?

    Polly

    1. I have visited James Island many times,two american “Matrons of colour” were at Kololi Beach Club doing the Roots thing,I made sure to advise them to visit the slave museum on the other bank from the “Roots Village” and examine the sales contracts between the Arab and Tribal Chief traders and the European shippers
      I fear I may have spoiled their expected narrative……………………..

  57. A non-Premium, non-Brexit, non-political DT article – Are dialects dying out?

    Along similar lines, I remember my first job away from the locality and being ribbed for my accent, despite the job only being about 15 miles away as the crow flies.

    3. Good morning ,

      How sad that the DT were so shortsighted and didn’t allow comments!

      The idiots could have learn’t more than wot they writ!

    4. P.S. If my strolls around town are anything to go by, I reckon the researchers will encounter more languages than dialects.

    5. One would imagine the author of this article to be interested in language. I am surprised therefore that she can’t conjugate a verb properly.

      “While such pronouncements may seem incomprehensible, they all feature words once common in Britain. A group of researchers are IS now setting out to discover whether they have died out.”

      It’s just one group, FFS

      1. Why do some trannies have to dress and make-up like grotesque women? That is an insult to women, actually.

        They are not transvestites, they are pretend grotesques.

        1. I’m not sure that these are “genuine” transvestites. They are more Pantomime Dames who make a living from dressing up as grotesques, rather than living the lifestyle as women.

          1. Fair enough, your point accepted, but small children don’t understand the nuances of dress, make-up etc. These people are better on a stage, where they are acting out a part, rather than trying to act as if they are “normal”.

          2. in general, it does seem to be the extreme, the caricature of a woman that these transgenders desire rather than the day-to-day normal wear of females. I wouldn’t be seen dead in sequins, massive costume jewellery, false eyelashes, gingham etc. But then that’s just me.

          3. I see two types here, the panto-dame and the “genuine”.

            I think the former fits your assessment; I think the latter try to live their lives under the radar as far as possible and don’t go blingoverload.

          5. That’s because it is written through our DNA, like a stick of rock. Whatever they think they can do, they cannot change that. All changes are otherwise cosmetic, in the manner, for example, of plastic surgery. In the final analysis, it is the DNA that counts, and the default is that with which you were born.

          7. They want all the “feel like” what they think a woman feels, without any of the pain…. hypocrites and bastards.

          8. That’s because it is written through our DNA, like a stick of rock. Whatever they think they can do, they cannot change that. All changes are otherwise cosmetic, in the manner, for example, of plastic surgery. In the final analysis, it is the DNA that counts, and the default is that with which you were born.

          9. Fair enough, your point accepted, but small children don’t understand the nuances of dress, make-up etc. These people are better on a stage, where they are acting out a part, rather than trying to act as if they are “normal”.

          10. Agreed.

            What I think is happening now, is that the PTB are presenting the milder side of this, so that children are not scared.

            My fear is always not that they won’t be scared but rather that they will be scarred.

          1. Don’t you believe it – drag queens get a kick out of dressing like women. So what started the whore+++ makeup? It’s just a “many a true word spoken in jest” kind of cover.

            What kind of man wants to dress as a complete tart/slut and go out on a show/stage/ (unfortunately kids’ school) looking like that?

          1. Personally, as a child I found clowns scary. I would have found one of those overdressed, over-slapped up drag queens very confusing and probably scary, had one been in my classroom reading fairy tales (no pun intended) when I was a nipper.

          2. They demean women by that grotesque representation of “femininity”. If women dressed as men in trousers with builders’ buttocks, a stack of Carlsberg Special Brews attached to their belts, and a huge synthetic penis attached to their fronts, and wanted to be taken as representing men, they’d be done for hate crime.

  60. I see that Matt Hancock has been accused of ‘whitesplaining’ Islamophobia by Baroness Warsi.

    I would very much like to whitesplain to Warsi and her followers how Britain was a much safer, more united, country in the first two post-war decades and the reasons why it has gradually but relentlessly lost these precious qualities at an accelerating rate in the last five decades.

    2. Oh, not again !! Your Bach is worse than your Byte.
      Any more and I’ll start putting opera up again…:-)

  63. I am becoming more and more frustrated that neither Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party nor the MSM are interested in examining what is in Johnson’s ‘fantastic new deal’ I posted this late last night from the DT but I am not surprised that it seems to have been taken down pretty quickly.

    Three reasons why Nigel Farage is right not to be convinced by Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal

    by MATTHEW PATTEN : BREXIT PARTY MEP

    Sign into any website these days and almost the first thing you have to do is accept the privacy policy and cookie settings. Like me, I suspect that few of us have every bothered to read the policy or check the settings, we just hit the accept tab and get on with it.

    But some things are just too important to ignore the small print. Boris Johnson’s withdrawal treaty being a case in point.

    I’ve been lucky enough to work with both the Prime Minister when he was Mayor of London and Nigel Farage as Leader of the Brexit Party. Both are the most gifted communicators of our time. Their dispute about what Brexit really means and the best way to deliver it is at the heart of the General Election.

    Boris is banking on the nation’s exhaustion with the Brexit debate and our notoriously short political memories. He’s asking us to trust him to just “get it done”. We’ve forgotten his promises to never put a border down the Irish Sea, not to prorogue Parliament and to leave by 31st October.

    Nigel Farage, on the other hand, has turned into the local bank manager. He’s insisting that the devil is in the detail and we need to understand what we are signing up to. For him, we are either completely out or completely in; there’s no fence to sit on. It’s a binary choice and like Theresa May’s deal, Boris’s is the worst of both worlds.

    It’s complicated, but not as much as you might think. 95 per cent of Boris’s new deal is exactly the same as Theresa May’s failed attempt. It still comprises two elements, the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration, but the new links between those two documents and how they make the aims of the Declaration more binding is where the complexity lies.

    So here are three questions you might ask in trying to decide what way to vote.

    1. Does Boris’s deal allow us to take back control of our sovereignty?

    No. The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) continues to reign supreme, governing the entire Withdrawal Treaty, binding future British Parliaments and requiring judges to overturn laws passed by the British Parliament if it considers them to be inconsistent with obligations in the Treaty (Articles 4, 87, 89 and 127 of the Withdrawal Treaty). This will also be the case under any Free Trade Deal (as agreed in paragraph 131 of the Political Declaration) and is unlike other trade deals the EU has with countries like Canada (which have independent arbitration).

    Even if the government didn’t extend the Transition Period beyond 2020, the Withdrawal Agreement imposes obligations on the UK which will last much longer. For example, citizens’ rights, European Investment Bank contingent liabilities and immunities from prosecution, control of fishing (paras 72 and 73 of the Political Declaration), all of which will remain subject to ECJ jurisdiction.

    2. Can we create our own trade deals?

    Maybe, but not yet and as President Trump recently stated, probably not at all.

    Technically the deal allows mainland Britain to leave the Customs Union and Single Market, but in reality, we will end up close to both with no say or influence over them.

    Although there is no longer any reference in the Political Declaration to “building on the customs territory”, the Government has admitted that businesses in Northern Ireland will need to complete a customs declaration to send goods to the mainland and EU customs officials can be present at border stations in the UK.

    The Political Declaration makes it difficult for the rest of the UK to agree and complete trade deals. Any Free Trade Agreement with the EU must include “ensuring a level playing field for open and fair competition” (para 17) and “deep regulatory cooperation” (para 21).

    Indeed, the UK has accepted that the Free Trade Agreement could take the form of an intimate “Association Agreement” (para 120 of the Political Declaration).

    Mr Barnier, the EU’s Chief Negotiator, is a wily fox. He’s aware that not only is the UK the EU’s largest export market, but also sits just 20 miles offshore. That’s why he has started to refer to “zero tariffs, zero quotas and zero dumping” – the dumping is code for full regulatory alignment and is foreshadowed in paragraph 77 of the Political Declaration:

    “Given the [EU] and UK’s geographical proximity and economic interdependence, the future relationship must ensure a level playing field. The precise nature of commitments should be commensurate with the scope and depth of the future relationship and the economic connectedness of the Parties. These commitments should prevent distortions of trade and unfair competitive advantages. To that end the parties should uphold the common high standards applicable in the [EU] and the UK at the end of the transition period in the areas of state aid, competition, social and employment standards, climate change and relevant tax matters.”

    This makes it very difficult for us be more competitive. It’s one of the reasons why President Trump made public his concerns that the proposed deal will prevent a Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

    Worse still, any attempt to change regulations to encourage business in and with the UK will again be at risk of the European Court of Justice deciding that it was state aid, a distortion of trade and/or an unfair competitive advantage. In essence, no potential trading partner will have confidence that we will be able to keep our side of a trade deal.

    3. Will we stop paying money to the EU?

    Not during the transition period, and for many years after there could be major residual payments.

    If Mr Johnson extends the transition period beyond 2020, a Joint Committee of UK and EU representatives will decide on any additional UK payments to the EU above the estimated £39bn already agreed (Article 132(2) and (3) of the Withdrawal Treaty). This is despite us not having any representation in the EU budget setting process. The estimated figure is at least a further £22bn to 2022, making a total sum north of £60bn. Any disputes about the calculation of this sum will be once again decided by the European Court of Justice.

    Additionally, there could also be billions of Euros fines as a result of state aid or VAT cases that have already started or which start during the transition.

    Congratulations for making it this far

    The Prime Minister is hoping that you couldn’t be bothered to read this much, Mr Farage is relying that you have.

    For me, there’s one more thing you really, really need to know. Under the terms of Boris’s agreement, we have to use our ‘best endeavours’ to agree a deal defined by the Political Declaration, effectively a copper-bottomed commitment to meet the EU and UK’s guidelines. The proposed transition period, the foundation of the idea of an ‘orderly Brexit’, expires at the end of next year. We have to give six months advance notice if we want to extend the Transition Period in July next year. No-one sensible believes it’s enough time to conclude a free trade agreement with the EU fully, not even Mr Barnier who told the European Parliament that it would take at least three more years.

    What that means is that there’s no chance at all that Boris’s deal “gets it done”. Rather, just like getting a temporary filling from the dentist for a really bad toothache, you know the infection is still there, the pain is going to start all over again and you need another appointment soon to sort it out properly.

    That’s why, on balance, I’m with Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party. The devil is in the detail. Any deal is the worst of both worlds. The European Court of Justice continues to rule the roost. Best take that tooth out.

    Matthew Patten is a Brexit Party MEP and from 2012-2018 was chief Executive for the Mayor’s Fund for London charity.

    1. Why are neither Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party nor the MSM interested in examining what is in Johnson’s ‘fantastic new deal’ ?

      Is it the same reason why no questions are asked about Uncle George ?

      While on the subject, what does George know, and who does he know it about ?

    2. Morning Rastus, one and all.

      I for one have long since decided that Boris’s deal is just as bad as Mrs May’s was. And of course we do not need a deal . We need WTO rules because, put simply, any “deal” leaves the U.K. in hoc to the EU as infinitum and subject to the ECJ.
      The phrase “let’s get Brexit done” is yet another red herring because it simply will not be Brexit. Yes I am fed up to the back teeth about Brexit but this is down to the MPs refusing to implement what the public voted for. I want OUT of the EU – a nice clean break. But that’s not what’s on offer. And never will be as far as I can make out.
      Edit: A couple of typos- please excuse!

    3. Morning Rik,
      I posted without checking down sorry to clash but no worries, as it cannot be said enough.

      1. I might write and ask if there have ever been any ‘administrative errors’ that resulted in MPs’ being underpaid.

      2. You have to understand MP’s do not pay for anything themselves probably even claim for their grocery bill

    1. It can only be hoped that those who are still considering voting for this Withdrawal Agreement deal, which is what voting Conservative means in this election, come to realise that Boris is not working in the interests of the United Kingdom.

      It would be helpful if a picture emerged of Boris laying a folded Union Jack on the altar of the EU. That might convince people. There is so much damage on the horizon for our country and it does not need to happen.

    1. Or back in the real world…. https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ag-v-yaxley-lennon-jmt-190709.pdf …and the very judge that KH attacks, Judge Marson, is of course the same judge that smashed an attempt by the defendants legal team to have the trial stopped because of TRs stupidity in breaking RROs. Can you imagine, as a Prosecutor or Police Officer, of having to tell victims that their day in court was in vain, that the courage and bravery they showed in coming forward was all for naught because an idiot broke RROs and the judge accepted that meant the trial had to stop along with the third linked trial that had yet to start.

    3. That whale looks hideously white. Its appearance suggests it’s got a nasty dose of ‘Moby Dick’.

    4. Trust you. I’d earmarked that from last night to put up later. Good one, isn’t it?🙃

  70. Mail to Mr R…. which will disappear into cyber void………………….

    Who benefitted from the ERM unravelling on September 16 1992… ?

    Who very much wanted ”Maastricht” and ”Lisbon” ?

    Who allegedly benefitted from deals with the Clintons, and how was that achieved.. ?

    Who allegedly benefitted from the US fiscal expansion in 2009 under Obama, and how was that achieved.. ?

    Just innocent coincidences………

    Polly

    1. Is Polly your real name?
      Were you educated in VA?
      Gibbs doesn’t believe in coincidences either.

          1. Life was so hard, we had to walk barefoot in the snow.

            The milk froze before even the títs could peck for the cream.
            Wwe only had hand-me-down underpants, with holes on both sides which we were sewn into at t’end of autumn and it was always uphill wherever we walked.

            That kind of thing.

        1. Sounds like a Barnsley Blaster. You can get them in the cocktail bar on Shambles Street.

      1. There was some woose of a Dr writing recently that the average monthly alcohol intake is just 14 units per month. I recall another Dr stating that was what used to be a lunchtime consumption back in the 1980s. I shall be playing Tourette’s whist with friends this evening i expect my consumption may well match that of a 1980s lunch!

          1. Very similar. it’s what some people may know as Contract Whist – but there’s an awful lot of involuntary swearing involved!

          3. Sadly two of my Extreme Bridge Partners have moved to pastures new – one to North Norfolk and t’other to South of Horsham. And that has ended a fortnightly social gathering that’s lasted over 20 years 🙁

        3. Does that mean that there are roughly 10 teetotallers per Nottler? (20 if BT, lotl, phizee and me are excluded)

          6. I think that’s a gross underestimate it’s probably somewhen in the region of 10 to the power of 9….

        4. My Australian Shiraz has in small print the Uk medical Officer’s advice that 14 units per week is the safe limit for an adult to drink. The label which is on the back of the bottle, bttom left, aso gives the units for this 75de 12.5%vol as 16.I needed a magnifyimg glass to read it. I dont know what DE means is it the same as cc. 125 ml of Shiraz wine in a glass is 1.6 units according to the label.I am just about to have my safe drink now as I settle down for the night.

    3. I wonder if @bassetedge remembers “The Police Bottle” that Sewell’s the Chemist at Dixon’s Corner used to produce?
      I’d love to know what was in it!

    4. I wonder if @bassetedge remembers “The Police Bottle” that Sewell’s the Chemist at Dixon’s Corner used to produce?
      I’d love to know what was in it!

    1. To stop the flow of illegals and to stow the constant deaths we need to put out a Zero tolerance message. Anyone that enters the UK illegally will be deported and will never be allowed into the UK. If we do not do that the number will ever increase only the routers they take may change.

      It i simply not feasible for the UK to take the massive numbers coming to the UK illegally . The official numbers are almost certainly understating the numbers by somewhere between 50% and a 100%

      We know that the UK population ids far higher than the claimed number. Most independent sources but the UK population at between 70M & 75M

      If we don’t even know the current UK population how can you even plan for our services

      Now our police are struggling to cope butt when you look at the figures they are only about 10,000 down and some functions mainly traffic related have been transfer ed to local councils and more civilian staff etc so that indicated our population is a lot higher. Another problem is that in general the crime rate amoungt migrants is higher

    2. There should be no further immigration at all until the infrastructure is capable of dealing with it: housing, schools, hospitals, roads, electricity, water etc. etc.

      I live in France and I made sure I could speak reasonable French before I came here and when I moved I made sure I was not in any way dependent on state handouts.

      Surely social cohesion and integration will never happen unless and until immigrants can speak English and follow British laws and mores.

    3. Morning Gunner,
      The amnesties R me, turkish delight
      could put up “eat two of your children
      make room for incoming guest’s” and still be supported & voted for.
      A multitude of fools are locked into the
      Keep in / keep out mode of voting,party first.
      They are voting for a party that is a segment of a mass uncontrolled immigration / paedophile umbrella / PC Appeasement pro eu coalition,even so,
      sod the consequences, party first.

    4. “[The] Home Office, has estimated that there are now 1.2 million undocumented migrants in the UK — more than the population of Birmingham. For the UK government to be theoretically committed to their expulsion is an absurdity.”

      Well that has swallowed the globalist hook, with the line and sinker still attached, which is: “The problem that we have deliberately created is now too big to do anything about it. So just roll over and give up.” That is the attitude that wipes out the cultures of countries and the people living in them, who were not asked if they wanted this to happen.

      “An amnesty would not increase the actual population of Britain (as opposed to the official population): these people are living here anyway. What it would do is bring them out of the black economy, make it more likely that they will pay tax, and give them a greater incentive to make a contribution to civic life.”

      They will certainly have a profound impact on our civil life, because overnight they will add 1.2 million new voters to our electorate. Given the choice between those who want to control immigration by leaving the EU, and those who want an “open door” immigration policy, I wonder which parties will gain a sudden boost in support?

      Then there is the overriding problem with blanket amnesties. It says to the world “Do not bother trying the legal route of entry. Just get here into the UK and keep your head down. After a while it will all be handed to you on a plate. Then your family can come and join you as well.”

    1. I think we need a lot more than the Brexit Party. The forthcoming election is a scam.
      If the Royal Mail guys can go on strike in December, then we can have riots in the streets before the election, instead
      of just sitting back and taking it.
      Where is our Brexit Union when you want it ?

      1. T,
        For 27 plus years there has only been one, and the establishment with the support of fools and a campaign of
        hate / smear kept it in check.
        They had seen it’s potential and IMO feared it.
        The continuing party first mode of voting kept these Isles in the sh!te and will continue to do so.

    2. Good Afternooon,

      We always knew this would be the case. The WA is only stage one – we have the “deal/FTA” still to agree – and all of the legislation to be unwound.

      It was never going to be simple – but it will be worth it.

      1. It will only be worth it of we have a proper Brexit – that is a WTO Brexit which gives us our freedom..

      2. No, it won’t. Unless you mean “worth it for the EU”.

        WA is total rule from the EU. It is all written down in the WA.

      3. It will only be worth it of we have a proper Brexit – that is a WTO Brexit which gives us our freedom..

        1. I don’t think he’s in Leicester/Bradford/Birmingham/London/Luton/Rotherham…… well, you get the drift.

    2. When I singlehandedly get you out of the EU there’ll be no more plastic spoons and we’ll be recycling old newspapers! It’ll be number two on our manifesto!

    3. He does look as if he is being prolier than thou in that. Rather patronising. A little like offering a free pint of beer to get into parliament (remember that?)

    4. “And when we get control of our fishing grounds again there’ll be plenty of cod under these chips!”

  76. I’ve come across the most unbelievable person
    elsewhere. Someone rattling away against Boris Johnson .
    An English person who’d done their own Brexit living
    in a French farmhouse. I asked whether they’d leave
    the malignant heart of the EU after Brexit and move back
    to the UK. They said No, that they like their life in France
    and would never want to live in the UK again as it’d be more
    limiting then the whole of Europe. Some like having their
    cake and eating it.. the utter hypocrisy!

    1. A – Don’t confuse the loathing of the construct that is the EU with the apparent love of the countries of Europe

      1. Oh I don’t confuse the EU and Europe and I defend
        Europeans when they are under attack.
        But it’s bizarre when these people rattle against EU
        laws and yet live within the heart of EU laws and wouldn’t want
        to live in their birth country anymore even after Brexit.
        It reminds me of Scottish expats like Sean Connery
        who support the SNP but wouldn’t again wish to
        live in Scotland. A mouldy whiff of hypocrisy .

      2. Why would he want to live in a country controlled by
        the same constraining laws that he’d want to free his
        own country from-
        ‘ I want my country back but don’t want to live in it
        even after Brexit, I would rather stay within the EU
        constraints that I fight against within my own country ” .

        Some like to have their cake and eating it, whilst obeying
        the EU baking laws of rural France.

        His French neighbours might say, we are trapped within
        those EU laws, you can go home and be free again and
        have your own laws and he says No.

        1. I can think of many reasons including the Tsunami of Idiocy that seems to be overwhelming the UK….

          1. S,
            You have just described
            the current members / voters of the lab/lib/con coalition party very nicely.

          2. So outdated Mr Silverback Ape 🙂

            Neither the Conservatives or I suppose the Lib Dems – antisemitic
            nor have they shared a platform with the IRA and other
            terrorist groups. Do try and keep up.
            The Hard Left are intolerant, dangerous and
            extreme and arnt in coalition with anyone yet
            unless in a leave coalition with the SNP.
            You forgot a party that has such a loud voice in our
            parliament who has said they’d prop up Corbyn
            and have enough seats to unfortunately do that .

          3. Afternoon A,
            Sorry, way ahead of you, the lab/lib/con are joined at the political hip via mass uncontrolled immigration policies and that is the main cause of our many odious problems.
            The wretch cameron after a pledge to reduce incoming numbers, raised them.
            The lib/dems the most honest of all the dishonest political creatures in parliament in so far as they have always been pro eu and never hid the fact.

          4. I was talking of having a terrorist supporting,
            extreme, dangerous and intolerant Prime Minister
            propped up by the SNP. Unique problems
            In themselves would you not say, regardless of
            Brexit of which they would stop. There are those
            who’d turn a blind eye to evil because of one thing they
            want but of course evil never delivers anything but
            excessive harm.

          5. A,
            I am in complete agreement with your post but I view things slightly different and a lot closer to home, I would put the rape & abuse, in one instance alone of 1400/ 1600 vulnerable children, the cause stemming from mass uncontrolled immigration.
            ALL governance parties are complicit.
            ALL governance parties are purveyors of
            PC / Appeasement, two strains of poison killing the country.
            ALL members / voters of these current governance parties do not only have the blind eyed monkey in play when in the ballot booth but also the other pair.
            In short ,we should be looking after kids welfare, before any reds under beds, paddy type terrorist fanciers is my feelings.

          6. So there isn’t the same level idiocy within the
            malignant heart of the EU ? that it’s easier, better and
            more productive then coming home to his country.
            He can say, my country is in a terrible state but my
            life is here in France where it isn’t really that bad or I’d not be here.

          10. Fortunately for us Dinan is a very long way from Paris and many of the things that make life miserable in Paris haven’t reached us here yet.

    2. You’ve obviously been admiring the work of Miss P and Mr. o1 and decided to specialise. But are you a CCHQ Bot or a Johnsonista Bot? Do their bots get paid like S(‘)r(‘)s Bots?

      1. I just got a bee in my bonnet about a man in his
        40s ( tax paying age and not retired after paying taxes )
        who is throwing stones but not willing to fight on
        home soil. Saxon Queens and long bow practice, Mr Rainbow.
        I’ll leave the specialising to Miss P and Mr Silverback Ape : )

        1. The Lady of the Mercians doth protest too much, methinks. I’ve noticed a distinct trend in your pro-Johnson comments over the last few days. I agree about “ex-pats”, I wouldn’t allow any to vote so that would mean the 30,000 traitors who voted to remain in the EU would have lost their votes. When it kicks off all the ex-pats will have a problem.

          This is a quote of a leftard moron who is totally against Brexit who intends to vote Lib Dem “My gently critical friends, most of them loyal Conservatives, suggest (variously) that Boris Johnson himself is no right-wing Brexiteer ideologue, and if he wins big he will be able to curb the zealotry on whose back he has risen; or that in time he will fail and be overthrown and replaced by a moderate, centrist leader. So hang on (they say): there’s everything still to fight for.”

          I’d say his gently critical friends have got it right.

          1. The country needs a strong, Right wing government. Someone willing to say ‘nonsense’ to the PC stuff, rubbish to the equalities act, someone willing to scrap vast numbers of Labour’s policies and taxes, who limits quangos and cuts the tax code and frees up business while leaving the citizen alone.

            Nothing else is useful. The country must be free from the statist inertia caused by the crushing coils of the Left wing serpent.

    3. The whole of Europe… what?

      We’re not saying no to Europe – in fact, we’re saying Yes to Europe, but no to the EU.

      The EU is a sclerotic communist failure. The rest fo the world is the open sea. A grand future of freedom, jetting off around the world as the explorers we were before their monstrous chains bound us in red tape.

      So stay in France. You’re the ones limiting yourselves.

      1. There is nothing communist about the EU. Talk about massive misunderstanding. The EU revolves around a strong belief in the church of neoliberalism, privatised industries, no state aid, and fostering strong competition.

        1. Airbus? State owned rail systems? Not communist I agree, but when the citizenry cannot vote for their President, something is definitely missing on the democracy front.

          1. We don’t vote for a PM here. That’s usually chosen by party hierarchy. We vote here just for our own area rep, and that’s the same in the EU.

  79. Berlin Wall
    Kanzlerin Merkel, said this according to the BBC;
    “However, Mrs Merkel warned on Saturday that “the values on which Europe is founded – freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, human rights – they are anything but self-evident and they have to be revitalised and defended time and time again”.
    “We stand stripped of any excuses and are required to do our part of freedom and democracy,” she added in a ceremony at the Berlin Wall memorial.”

    Remind me again, please, how exactly the Germans did their part “of freedom and democracy”? Are they not the country that started and prosecuted two World Wars? Is Merkel not a direct inheritor of the Chancellors who started these wars?
    Has language and reality now been changed beyond any recognition?

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50361173

    1. Lidl were selling linguine, absolutely no idea what it was until I saw it sitting on the shelf. So I bought some to have with my spaghetti Bolognese and meatballs just like mama never used to make, because papa said “We don’t want any of that foreign muck!”
      Does linguini compliment Rossini? I could imagine Tonto sitting down to having linguine with his buffalo stew.

        2. I’ll take your word for it, you wouldn’t get me there unless… better not say, as @Kol might be prowling.

          2. Interesting, I see an opening. You know what they say about the best gamekeepers are former poachers. My best work is over at Breitbart trolling the Yanks and S(‘)r(‘)s bots and the few true leftards that frequent there. He soon gave up on me.

          3. He followed me from Conservative Woman, which is usually a reasonably troll-free forum, although of course people disagree. That’s why I’ve now shut my profile – he must have looked me up to troll very quickly. He is obsessed by Trump and Yemen, it seems.

          4. He returned for another go but just leaves a meme and is having ago at Mr. Graham too. I mentioned Yemen to him, see if it draws him out but on his profile page he says he’s against anti-Islamists. Oh yeah I asked him if he was a dhimmi, no response.

        1. You’ve put me on the spot. I’ll have to watch it next time I hear it on my ear pods. Some guy with a deep voice giving the spiel about visiting Saudi but he does mention applying for a visa. So they don’t just accept any old riff raff.

    1. “I was only obeying orders” is no longer an acceptable response when on trial, but I still have to ask: “Who sends soldiers to do what they do?”

      Politicians.

      Put the politicians on trial first. Be certain that if found guilty that they are executed.

      One might get fewer wars.

      1. Not an acceptable excuse. But what happens to those who don’t follow orders? They are court martialled, if not dragged through the civil courts, as now.They can’t win.

        2. Simple answer is don’t join up to go in the army, as appears to be happening now as they are having to widen their search for recruits to the Caribbean and Pacific Islanders.

          1. Oh yes – these people will really, really be prepared to die for Queen and (not their) country.

          2. Well yes, but they’ll be used to put down us. I knew a Green Howard who was on the Green Goddesses in the Toxteth riots. They were asked if they would shoot to kill. Because it was a London regiment a lot readily agreed but there were a few Scouses and they were not happy. So they decided not to. Secondly, how many justifiable wars has GB been in since 1800 and how many could have been avoided with more diplomacy? There was an article about queens being more bloodthirsty in the DM today, were you a queen in a former life?

          4. Don’t join the army to be a frontline soldier to be cannon fodder and be paid peanuts and ordered about by an incompetent officer corps and politicians who would never lay their lives on the line.

          5. When he was 16, Firstborn had an inspection planning job that paid more than any grade of British Army sergeant. Nobody shot at him, either.

          6. When I was writing that I was thinking of police pensions for 30 years and how well Roman soldiers got treated if they survived the 28 years or whatever period. They also go treated better if they were invalided out.

          7. Well of course. But the majority of those who do join nowadays will, as you intimate, quite happily turn their guns on us.

          10. Well of course. But the majority of those who do join nowadays will, as you intimate, quite happily turn their guns on us.

          12. Exactly. I would fight for my own kind but not for the scum who have ruled us for, well since Wellington. How many justifiable wars have we been in? I wind up a copper at the gym, He retired in the summer after 30 years at the age of 48. He’s much cleverer than I am but has dumbed himself down to cope with the police hierarchy. I had to tell him about Common Purpose but he’d already decided he didn’t want to go above inspector. He’s now on a massive pension but soldiers get SFA.

        4. Under the Laws Of Armed Conflict (one of which is the Geneva Convention) miltary personnel can refuse to carry out illegal orders and retain the full protection of military and civil law.

          1. Yes, but who in the heat of the moment is going to know what a court would agree is “illegal”?

          2. The illegality of such acts is determined by international convention and not by court martial after the event.
            In the British Army, soldiers receive instruction in the Laws of Armed Conflict at least once per year. Examples of illegal acts are shown in videos and on slides. I have presented this lesson numerous times.

    2. This crass coward who couldn’t get a decant exam, couldn’t fight if his family (let alone country) depended on it, couldn’t think or develop his non-thinking beyond what was put into his pea-brain at the age of 17.

      His parliamentary “career” has allowed him to play the part of stroppy student union rep. for the last 50 years. Time his constituents grew up, because sure as hell, he isn’t going to…

          1. Somebody posted a video of one of those on GP, he definitely did not like white people.

          2. He’s deflecting – it’s himself he doesn’t like, because he is a failure. So he projects it onto whites and slimes up to blacks. Perhaps in his own warped way he feels that he is equal to them.

      2. Yet the little hypocritical piece of shite will attend the Cenotaph
        With all the sincerity of a Timeshare salesman

        2. At least with a timeshare salesman they could make sales. Corbyn is a total waste of space. How he has risen is sickening.

      1. I quite liked Mado Robin. Her voice could clean glass. She was a coloratura soprano and soprano acuto sfogato.

    3. My favourite piece by Callas is Depuis le Jour from Charpentier’s Louise though her voice was past its best when it was recorded!

        1. It’s even more impressive in reality as you can’t take your eyes of his eyes as it’s one of those pictures where they follow you around the room.

          2. Yes. She had to look after two of my cats for 10 years and did me a montage of photos of the two of them, after the younger one died at 19 earlier this year.

          3. You obviously look(ed) after them well. Happy catties! We like to think that ours is pretty happy and content – she certainly seems so, and loves being around us. She comes up to us and butts us gently with her head if we are doing something on the computer – like just now.

          4. I actually had three, one of whom I didn’t look after well and have deep regrets about it. The only consolation to her early death would have been the recovery of the bird population, a born hunter. But the tom cat, runt of all runts had definitely been here before, he had little man syndrome and would walk up to people in the street on his back legs.

  89. Just because Corbyn is offered up as an alternative doesn’t mean that the what is offered up is any better

    1. Does King Peddy, the pedantic pedant of Pedantia ever review your comments?
      What is being offered up by all and sundry, by every politician, in my limited opinion, is a joint plan to ensure we never leave the EU. I think this latest election is a brilliant strategy, they have learnt from May’s attempt at throwing the 2017 GE. The only thing I haven’t worked out yet is if they are deliberately driving us to civil war.

          1. @peddytheviking:disqus

            Mr Viking needs to turn red Mr Rainbow,
            If you request his presence 😉

          3. It should do I don’t know why it doesn’t,
            one of the very few useful disqus features.
            If it changes colours it works but if it stays black
            It isn’t working. I’ll have a search around and see why it
            might not be working .

        1. You can call me Bow or Six. I’m afraid Kings can not abdicate their responsibilities as there are always some pretenders after their crowns. I just wonder why they all seem to target me, am I some kind of proving ground?

          2. Well I thought I would chop off my nose to spite my face but I have met somebody who would definitely do it. Try Sudafed.

  90. Would Grizz care to offer any observations on this report from Sweden?

    “The Public Inheritance Fund, a state body that manages the money, will give the cash to ‘Kulturföreningen Mums’ in Stockholm, which will use it to organize transvestite and transgender events where fairytales are read to children.

    “The project will, together with children, young people and adults with disabilities, develop available normative creative fairy tales in the form of drag shows. Together with the target group and several organizations, the established business Among dragons and drag queens will create new fairy tales that reflect the target group,” writes the General Heritage Foundation.

    The funds will be used to promote projects “based on the needs and wishes of the target group” which includes “drag show workshops” based around drag queens reading books to children in libraries.

    Other large chunks of money from the inheritance pot are being handed out to left-wing groups, including one that promotes “a higher climate commitment” for young people.

    Despite Sweden being a progressive utopia which punishes its own citizens who question pretty much anything like this, respondents on Twitter weren’t so enthusiastic”.

    One of them described the situation as “economic-necrophilia,” while another said, “Note to fucking self: Don’t let your children near these people.”

      1. They did, actually.

        I have posted this on here before in the last four weeks. Here you are.

        GENDER THEORY PIONEER ADMITS ‘I MADE IT ALL UP’
        Dear marriage supporter
        One of the pioneers of gender theory has admitted that he and his colleagues “basically just made it up”.
        In an article in online magazine Quillette, former gender historian Christopher Dummitt explains how he and his fellow academics simply ignored the innate differences between men and women. In this way they “proved” that “sex was wholly a social construct”.
        What”s worse, everyone was at it. “Everyone was (and is) making it up. That”s how the gender-studies field works”, he confesses. Over the past 30 years, whole university departments have been taken over by subjects like “gender history” and “gender studies”, which perpetuate the fiction that sex is not a “biological reality”.
        Disagreeing with this nonsense is increasingly being regarded by our society as “tantamount to hate speech”. It’s also being used to push all kinds of dangerous ideas to school children.
        The peer review process, far from providing a check on this groupthink, only made it worse. It was no better than a “form of ideological in-group screening”.
        Dr Dummitt says that “critics of the social constructionists are right to raise their eyebrows at the so-called proof presented by alleged experts”.
        At C4M we raise more than an eyebrow. Marriage is about a man and a woman committing to one another for life. The evidence shows this is best for men, women and children – no matter what an expert in ‘gender studies’ might say.
        Yours sincerely,

        Colin Hart
        Chairman
        Coalition for Marriage (C4M)

  91. Pop back in with this ’cause Oi Laffed

    “Chaos broke out at the annual Paraniod Schizophrenic’s Christmas
    pantomime when a member of the audience shouted ‘he’s behind you'”

    1. Reminds me of when I lived in Surbiton. The National Schizophrenia Society had an office at the end of the High Street. And another one further down.

    1. You know that it is a powerful voice when you can hear the glasses in the kitchen shattering two rooms away.

    1. A former soldier drove by three minutes ago. His son is ex Para. I will pass the message on, if you have the name of the Funeral Directors.

    2. A former soldier drove by three minutes ago. His son is ex Para. I will pass the message on, if you have the name of the Funeral Directors.

  97. I set off for a nippy walk earlier, landing at a cafe in a local beauty spot for a warming cuppa.

    Whilst sat sitting drinking my tea, getting some feeling back in my limbs and looking at the cold scene outside, a thought flashed through my head – hot Bovril. I can’t remember the last time I bought some or if I ever did.

    My travels led me into town and in the first shop I entered, the answer to my question was “on that shelf over there”.

    Having just come in, some pepper, a spot of curry powder and a spoonful of Bovril are currently warming me up a treat.

    Second mug-full, here I come.

    1. A hot cup of Bovril is still my favourite treatment for the snuffles. Only problem is that I have to get visitors to smuggle it in for me – we can buy Marmite, or God forbid, Vegemite, but not Bovril.

    2. A hot cup of Bovril is still my favourite treatment for the snuffles. Only problem is that I have to get visitors to smuggle it in for me – we can buy Marmite, or God forbid, Vegemite, but not Bovril.

    3. I burn my mouth on the first few sips because I’m trying take in too much. I’ve got some Bovril cubes but haven’t tried them yet.

    1. Yere’tis

      In the ashes of post-Cold War hubris, we rediscovered the fragility of our freedom
      DOUGLAS MURRAY
      Follow 8310037008 NOVEMBER 2019 • 9:30PM
      Save
      79
      FILE – Friday, Nov. 10, 1989 file photo, Berliners sing and dance on top of the Berlin Wall to celebrate the opening of East-West German borders in Berlin. Thousands of East German citizens moved into the West after East German authorities opened all border crossing points to the West. In the background is the Brandenburg Gate. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)
      The 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is not just a time to remember that monumental event. It is also a time to reflect on the hopes and expectations that existed in its aftermath. Of course what stands out now is the triumphalism. The justifiable feeling that in witnessing the collapse of the communist idea the free-market West had proven its superiority for all to see.

      Francis Fukuyama summed up this moment in his over-cited The End of History. The American scholar’s contention was not that events would no longer occur, but that in liberal free-market democracy the world had reached the desired destination of political order.

      There was much in this. Certainly more than those who had never read the book could concede. The free-market had allowed for unparalleled economic growth. Political liberty had allowed governments to unleash the talents of their populations. The Soviet experiment had been an unmitigated, humanly wasteful disaster. But, of course, the stark choice of the Cold War also provided clarity and the decades that followed have provided a reminder of why such clarity is needed.

      What is striking now is how short a time that post-1989 optimism lasted. The events of September 11 2001 reminded people that there were challengers to some of the most basic presumptions of the modern West. But it was the 2008 financial crash that provided the more fundamental blow to Western self-belief.

      After the Cold War ended, the West had settled on a recognition that while the Left had broadly won the culture wars – capturing all the major cultural institutions – the Right had won the economic argument. Even the most morose Right-winger could console themselves with this half-victory.

      Yet 2008 changed that more than we realised at the time. Although the crash was principally brought about by the insertion of a form of Left-wing social engineering into the US housing market, the resulting pandemonium ended up being levelled against the Right. It became claimed that the one thing that the Right had got right had in fact gone wrong. How happy the old Left were to pick up where they had left off in 1989.

      Politicians like Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell had been waiting patiently with their one, old, idea. Albeit now repackaged for a new age. This last decade saw them and their comrades fight back hard in the realm of economics. Thanks to Thomas Picketty and others, “inequality” became one of the watchwords of the era. Suddenly the fact that free-market capitalism had raised more people out of poverty than any other idea in history became unimportant.

      Instead of focusing on the fact that living standards were rising globally, the Left began to fixate on wealth disparities. Greater freedom in the workplace was portrayed as an unalloyed negative. The “gig economy” and “zero-hours contracts” were portrayed not as any kind of freedom but merely as a new type of capitalist-organised slavery.

      Such old-school Left-wingers correctly identified a new reservoir of support. People who were too young to have seen their ideas go around before. People for whom the Berlin Wall was ancient history. People who mistook a retread for something original. The old comrades had some things on their side, of course.

      The fact that young people found it almost impossible to accumulate capital over the last decade gave them reasons to be sceptical of capitalism. The difficulty of home ownership made them unable to thrill to some of the basic motifs of conservatism that had been instilled in previous generations. And so the political Right that had decided to either sit above the culture wars, sit them out, or concede them, now found their one competence falling away from under them. All the time the Left that had destroyed the economy of every country they had ever got their hands on now portrayed itself as the only possible saviour of the economy.

      And then in 2016, a single culture war issue was won for the Right. There is no reason why borders and sovereignty need be a specifically Right-wing issue. But in recent years the Left had decided to go big on the ideas of open borders and supra-national government. To win these arguments, they decided to portray anyone who believed in self-governance or managed migration as not just wrong but bigoted and “far-Right”.

      By supporting Brexit, the voters hit back by showing that actually there are some passions that matter more than economics. That while economic stability and growth are important there are some habits of the heart that cannot be bought, and that national self-determination and a right to feel pride in your nation’s achievements are among them.

      Perhaps it was inevitable that such cultural issues would reassert themselves. Out of the corner of our eyes, most people could see the one great looming challenge to the presumption that we have held onto for the last three decades. China has managed to grow and increasingly to dominate. And while it has freed up in its approach to markets it has not allowed a corresponding freeing-up of its political system. Perhaps free markets and free people do not always go together? Another presumption of recent times proved to be a delusion.

      Perhaps that last realisation led the populations of countries like this one to an ineluctable conclusion: that the system of economic and political freedom which we have enjoyed is unusual. Not the final, let alone default, position of all people’s around the world, but a peculiar inheritance of countries like ours.

      And what is unusual can easily be lost. Today even the countries that saw off the communist experiment find themselves challenged not by watered down versions of that ideology but by the hardest-core surviving disciples of that creed. The Soviet bloc never had more ardent defenders than the people who now surround the leader of the Labour Party. In none of Senator McCarthy’s wildest nightmares could he have imagined a figure like Bernie Sanders winning arguments on the mainstream wing of the Democratic Party.

      For those who were on the winning side of the Cold War, all of this should provide the strongest possible reminder. That countries like ours did not resist the far-Left because there was something in the water of the Thames. But rather because a succession of leaders over the course of a century made the argument not just for freedom in the markets and politics, but rooted this in a passion for political and national belonging. In the belief that the individual knew better than the state how best to spend their money and exert their energies. That while the free market did not provide happiness, it provided the best opportunity to pursue such a thing.

      And that whatever the flaws of the system we have, and however much it can be improved, it will always remain preferable to the alternative. All, most crucially, centred on a realisation that the freedoms we have are not the inevitable end-point of human history, but unusual, constantly in peril, and worth fighting for.

      Douglas Murray is the author of ‘The Madness of Crowds’

      1. “Instead of focusing on the fact that living standards were rising globally, the Left began to fixate on wealth disparities. Greater freedom in the workplace was portrayed as an unalloyed negative. The “gig economy” and “zero-hours contracts” were portrayed not as any kind of freedom but merely as a new type of capitalist-organised slavery.”

        I reckon most people don’t give a f78k if the living standards of a Bangladeshi shoe maker are improving, they want HMG to ensure they don’t get f87ked over by bosses who adore mass immigration and ZHCs….

        If the c78t Murray doesn’t get that, he’s insane.

      2. “All the time the Left that had destroyed the economy of every country they had ever got their hands on now portrayed itself as the only possible saviour of the economy.”

        In the UK context, every spending plan put forward by the Reds was cheered on by the Blues promising to match those plans….at the very point the bubble was bursting, George O. was screaming the UK must be like Ireland.

        For the past 50 years, there has been and continues to be no difference between Globalist Blues and Globalist Reds…they both can not suck enough MegaCorps c89k.

    2. The 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall
      is not just a time to remember that monumental event. It is also a time
      to reflect on the hopes and expectations that existed in its aftermath.
      Of course what stands out now is the triumphalism. The justifiable
      feeling that in witnessing the collapse of the communist idea the
      free-market West had proven its superiority for all to see.

      Francis Fukuyama summed up this moment in his over-cited The End of History.
      The American scholar’s contention was not that events would no longer
      occur, but that in liberal free-market democracy the world had reached
      the desired destination of political order.

      There was much in this. Certainly more than those who had never read
      the book could concede. The free-market had allowed for unparalleled
      economic growth. Political liberty had allowed governments to unleash
      the talents of their populations. The Soviet experiment had been an
      unmitigated, humanly wasteful disaster. But, of course, the stark choice
      of the Cold War also provided clarity and the decades that followed
      have provided a reminder of why such clarity is needed.

      What is striking now is how short a time that post-1989 optimism
      lasted. The events of September 11 2001 reminded people that there were
      challengers to some of the most basic presumptions of the modern West.
      But it was the 2008 financial crash that provided the more fundamental
      blow to Western self-belief.

      After the Cold War ended, the West had settled on a recognition that
      while the Left had broadly won the culture wars – capturing all the
      major cultural institutions – the Right had won the economic argument.
      Even the most morose Right-winger could console themselves with this
      half-victory.

      Yet 2008 changed that more than we realised at the time. Although the
      crash was principally brought about by the insertion of a form of
      Left-wing social engineering into the US housing market, the resulting
      pandemonium ended up being levelled against the Right. It became claimed
      that the one thing that the Right had got right had in fact gone wrong.
      How happy the old Left were to pick up where they had left off in 1989.

      Politicians like Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell had been waiting
      patiently with their one, old, idea. Albeit now repackaged for a new
      age. This last decade saw them and their comrades fight back hard in the
      realm of economics. Thanks to Thomas Picketty and others, “inequality”
      became one of the watchwords of the era. Suddenly the fact that
      free-market capitalism had raised more people out of poverty than any
      other idea in history became unimportant.

      Instead of focusing on the fact that living standards were rising globally, the
      Left began to fixate on wealth disparities. Greater freedom in the
      workplace was portrayed as an unalloyed negative. The “gig economy” and
      “zero-hours contracts” were portrayed not as any kind of freedom but
      merely as a new type of capitalist-organised slavery.

      Such old-school Left-wingers correctly identified a new reservoir of
      support. People who were too young to have seen their ideas go around
      before. People for whom the Berlin Wall was ancient history. People who
      mistook a retread for something original. The old comrades had some
      things on their side, of course.

      The fact that young people found it almost impossible to accumulate
      capital over the last decade gave them reasons to be sceptical of
      capitalism. The difficulty of home ownership made them unable to thrill
      to some of the basic motifs of conservatism that had been instilled in
      previous generations. And so the political Right that had decided to
      either sit above the culture wars, sit them out, or concede them, now
      found their one competence falling away from under them. All the time
      the Left that had destroyed the economy of every country they had ever
      got their hands on now portrayed itself as the only possible saviour of
      the economy.

      And then in 2016, a single culture war issue was won for the Right. There is no reason why borders and sovereignty nebe a specifically Right-wing issue. But in recent years the Left had
      decided to go big on the ideas of open borders and supra-national
      government. To win these arguments, they decided to portray anyone who
      believed in self-governance or managed migration as not just wrong but
      bigoted and “far-Right”.

      By supporting Brexit, the voters hit back by showing that actually
      there are some passions that matter more than economics. That while
      economic stability and growth are important there are some habits of the
      heart that cannot be bought, and that national self-determination and a
      right to feel pride in your nation’s achievements are among them.

      Perhaps it was inevitable that such cultural issues would reassert
      themselves. Out of the corner of our eyes, most people could see the one
      great looming challenge to the presumption that we have held onto for
      the last three decades. China has managed to grow and increasingly to
      dominate. And while it has freed up in its approach to markets it has
      not allowed a corresponding freeing-up of its political system. Perhaps
      free markets and free people do not always go together? Another
      presumption of recent times proved to be a delusion.

      Perhaps that last realisation led the populations of countries like this one to
      an ineluctable conclusion: that the system of economic and political
      freedom which we have enjoyed is unusual. Not the final, let alone
      default, position of all people’s around the world, but a peculiar
      inheritance of countries like ours.

      And what is unusual can easily be lost. Today even the countries that saw off the communist experiment
      find themselves challenged not by watered down versions of that
      ideology but by the hardest-core surviving disciples of that creed. The
      Soviet bloc never had more ardent defenders than the people who now
      surround the leader of the Labour Party. In none of Senator McCarthy’s
      wildest nightmares could he have imagined a figure like Bernie Sanders
      winning arguments on the mainstream wing of the Democratic Party.

      For those who were on the winning side of the Cold War, all of this
      should provide the strongest possible reminder. That countries like ours
      did not resist the far-Left because there was something in the water of
      the Thames. But rather because a succession of leaders over the course
      of a century made the argument not just for freedom in the markets and
      politics, but rooted this in a passion for political and national
      belonging. In the belief that the individual knew better than the state
      how best to spend their money and exert their energies. That while the
      free market did not provide happiness, it provided the best opportunity
      to pursue such a thing.

      And that whatever the flaws of the system we have, and however much
      it can be improved, it will always remain preferable to the alternative.
      All, most crucially, centred on a realisation that the freedoms we have
      are not the inevitable end-point of human history, but unusual,
      constantly in peril, and worth fighting for.

      Douglas Murray is the author of ‘The Madness of Crowds’ AND I DO WISH THAT HE WOULD WRITE SHORTER STUFF!!

        1. “Labour ‘shocked’ as police watchdog freezes investigation into Jennifer Arcuri scandal.”

          Is there anything that does not shock the left-wing? They must go through life shaking like a vegan in a steakhouse.

          On that note, have a good night. Time to read until exhaustion takes me. 🙂

      1. Yep!
        And no, I’m not making that up. At the time it was banned, someone leaked that the BBC hierarchy thought it was too British.

        2. It was the opening theme tune at 6am ……I loved listening to it with a cup of tea in bed….!

      1. Still capable of exquisite reception – if exquisite (as opposed to quisling) material is broadcast….

    1. I don’t get it, is there more to the cartoon as I can’t see why they’ve fallen over? First hurdle? Or If they were tied at the ankle, yes.

        1. I can see all the cartoon now. Might it have been an interstellar, intergalactic laser? I’d have never have thought of a starting pistol but equally it could be saying the pair would fack it up before they got to the starting line. Be careful, there’s a troll who could flag your comment, but I’d include the other 648 too.

    1. If I can recall back to my very early teens, this song was apparently produced by Jonathan King, and the singer was given a flat fee for her singing, rather than a cut in royalties. I don’t know if she had a choice, but I think I would have gone for a flat fee, given the carp song.

      However, it made JK a bomb of money. It’s not only kids nowadays that have no taste whatsoever.

        1. I’m afraid I was never into Motown-type stuff, except for a few – Higher and higher, Nutbush, (Ike and Tina stuff generally) kind of thing. I’ve actually grown to like more since I’ve grown older.

          Edit: I preferred Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin,Glen Campbell (would you believe) and Judas Priest…

          ..oh and Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention, Genesis….

          6. Never apologise, it’s a sure sign of weakness. I would never want to get on your “wick”.

          7. Obviously not, you supercilious, self-confessed intellectuals love to stick to your little cliques. I don’t have a problem with the use of the “f” word, that’s if I have the right of reply using my default language which has plenty “a’s”, “b’s”, “c’s” and “d’s” and so on. But you’d only go cwying to the mods complaining that nasty wainbow six has sworn at me. You know what they say Don’t feed the trolls, well Bob3 does.

          8. We all have our opinions, I’m glad you think so highly enough of me to mention it. Maybe you should get a petition up and get me banned. I’d love to respond to you in a similar manner but I’m 100% sure my comment would be removed and I’d be instantly banned, but that’s the double standards you pretentious, arrogant, supercilious middle class ******* go by. I bet you went to university didn’t you and think yourself clever? then give me idiocy any day of the week. If you want I can troll you, at no extra cost, but silver and gold trolling are at a premium.
            BTW what was in the above post that so offended your righteous sensibilities?
            Somebody has given you a down tick, just to make sure you know for certain it wasn’t me, have another one.
            I think about it all the time but knowing my sheer existence offends you in particular, I’ll stick around for just a bit longer.

    2. That was very nice. From a more “delicate” age. I was trying to remember one that also told a story from when I was a small boy and this one came to mind. Not as peaceful, but I remember reading a “Ladybird” picture book of soldiers down the ages as it was playing.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6itauSnrSZA

        1. That was very good. It is going on the playlist for those melancholic moments in the midnight hours when the spirits take you. I had not heard that one before now, or I would have put it up. 🙂

          I needed to scroll the image off the screen to be able to listen to it without distraction though. What is it with people who put these excellent songs up, that they need to put such stupid videos along with them? That first picture would have been fine for the whole thing, or the one with a Gypsy playing the violin.

          Instead we had the thought process laid bare: “It says “waiting at the GATE” in the words, so I’ll put in a picture of a GATE in the clip!” I find that very distracting from enjoying the lyrics.

          On the theme of slow melancholic soldier songs, here is one where a blind man misses his boy who is away overseas. “Six White Horses” sung by the great voice of Waylon Jennings.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbrKBmuJkf0

        2. Oh my, I’m nearly tearful this early (9 a.m.). Nottl brings us so much lovely music, so different and some very new (to me, at least).

          I was brought up in a classical background (my mother’s family were all classical musicians) but I broke the mould and discovered rock, traditional folk etc. to complement the music of my childhood. I have to admit that baroque music is my favourite in the classical genre (I know, predictable).

          But to hear other Nottlers’ loved pieces is a real voyage of discovery…

  108. 2 halves of Britain

    We have just watched on the box , a thoroughly modern enjoyable Service of Remembrance in the Albert Hall..

    The utter misery that the poor people are suffering from re the floods is heart wrenching.

    Surely the election should be cancelled … low priority .

    Over £45 million pounds … yep , elections cost money .

    What do you feel?

      1. I also think it should go ahead, as a learning experience for the young and old about just how far politicians are prepared to go to betray those who voted for them. The past few months, as we have almost witnessed the end of our belief in democracy here, have been jaw-dropping. But there may be far deeper betrayals to come. Not a classic song by any means, but a portent of one possible future.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH6H7mSvsvg

  109. Was going to watch the final T20 cricket, but I’m feeling tired. Good music at t’pub but good posted stuff too. Fare thee well Angelina.

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